Filming just wrapped on director Robert Rodriguez and screenwriter James Cameron‘s Alita: Battle Angel, but another cast member has just been announced. Michelle Rodriguez, who’s worked with both Rodriguez and Cameron, is a part of the adaptation of Yukito Kishiro‘s Japanese manga. The news comes only a few short weeks after we learned Jennifer Connelly has a role in the 3D sci-fi action movie.

If Jackie Earle Haley has some kind of geek property bingo card, he’s surely won several times over by now. The star of Watchmen, AMC’s Preacher, Amazon’s The Tick pilot, and the upcoming The Dark Tower, has now signed on for Alita: Battle Angel, the sci-fi manga adaptation being directed by Robert Rodriguez for producer James Cameron. He joins Rosa Salazar and Christoph Waltz. Read More »

Peter Serafinowicz has some big shoes to fill with the rebooted live-action version of The Tick. The character was last played by Patrick Warburton in the far too short-lived Fox television series. A scheduling conflict meant he couldn’t play Ben Edlund‘s character again, but we’re confident Serafinowicz will make for a fine replacement.

The Tick pilot debuted on Amazon last night, but if you haven’t seen it yet you can get a taste of Serafinowicz in action in two new clips from The Tick.

We were initially disappointed to hear that the upcoming revival of The Tick would not have Patrick Warburton returning to the lead role. But by the looks of it, Peter Serafinowicz should be a more than worthy successor. A batch of new The Tick stills have been revealed, showing more of Serafinowicz in that musclebound blue suit, plus Griffin Newman as Arthur, Jackie Earle Haley as The Terror, Brendan Hines as Superian, and more. Check out the latest The Tick images below. Read More »

Of all the films that played at Sundance this year, perhaps none got more hype than Nate Parker‘s The Birth of a Nation. Not only did it get spectacular reviews, it scored the biggest Sundance deal ever, with Fox Searchlight forking over $17.5 million. The distributor promptly set Birth of a Nation for a fall release, right at the start of awards-movie season, and now it’s getting a head start on the marketing by dropping the very first promo.

Parker stars in his own directorial debut as Nat Turner, a devoutly religious slave who becomes a traveling preacher — and, eventually, the leader of the bloodiest slave rebellion in American history. Armie Hammer plays Nat’s owner, and Penelope Ann Miller, Jackie Earle Haley, and Aja Naomi King also star. Watch the Birth of a Nation trailer after the jump. Read More »

If you’re the kind of person who adores comic book shows and fantasy movies — and judging by the fact that you’re on /Film, we’re guessing you are — prepare to see a lot of Jackie Earle Haley over the next couple of years. Not only is he set to star in AMC’s Preacher, he’s just snapped up roles in Amazon’s The Tick and Nikolaj Arcel‘s Stephen King adaptation The Dark Tower. Not surprisingly, given his knack for playing colorful and creepy characters, he’ll be playing villains in all of them. Read More »

Preacher was never going to make it to television without undergoing its fair share of changes. Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon‘s blasphemous and brutal comic series is very much a product of the ’90s, a story that gives political correctness a big middle finger being stomping its face in with a steel-toed cowboy boot. It’s certainly not unadaptable, but it features characters, storylines, and images that feel specifically built for a comic book, where things like “budget” and “good taste” don’t have to exist. To adapt Preacher is to recognize the spirit of the thing – to bottle its acerbic wit, grotesque slapstick, and surprising humanity – even if it means taking the story in a separate direction.

Now, a piece of casting news has revealed just how far from the source material writer/producers Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Sam Catlin and planning to stray. Academy Award nominee Jackie Earle Haley has joined the cast as a villainous character whose presence in the show’s first season defies the comic’s original storyline in a huge way.

After a long, respectable career in front of the camera, Jackie Earle Haley takes charge behind the camera for the first time with Criminal Activities. Haley’s directorial debut stars Dan Stevens, Michael Pitt, Christopher Abbott, and Rob Brown as four young men who get in over their heads with a mobster, played by John Travolta. Check out the Criminal Activities trailer after the jump. Read More »

As some people doubt what writer turned producer turned director Roberto Orci will be able to do with Star Trek 3, the film’s co-star John Cho is coming out in defense of his new director. Cho says Orci’s work is “going to blow people away.” In addition to the Star Trek 3 talk, we have info on the following items:

Toy collectors will be able to purchase Jurassic World Lego sets,

Jason Schwartzman explains how he ended up rumored for Jurassic World,

Hugh Grant bows out of Bridget Jones 3,

Katie Holmes returns to the role of Jackie O in new Kennedys mini-series, and will direct an episode,

Jackie Earle Haley is a talented actor, and he has the sort of face that leads him to being cast in less than savory roles. His latest gig will see him leading people into bad acts in a new way, however. Haley will direct the indie Criminal Activies, and also take a role in the picture. Read More »